One Piece  Dreams Don't Come True
by Ridler
Summary: On one of the last inhabited islands on the Grand Line, a stranger is resting in a bar. What is his story and why is he there? *Flashback takes place right after Robin joins*


The girl quickly went past the tables and approached the hooded man in the back of the pub. She bent down in order to look the man in the eye, but his look was focused low on the ground.

'Uhm, excuse me' she said gently, 'If you don't order anything, you can't stay here'

The man finally reacted, as he reached in his pocket and threw 100 beli on the table.

'Bring me anything', he demanded, still not raising his look from the ground. The brown-haired girl was confused, but then understood what the man meant, so she smiled, picked up the money and returned a few minutes after with a cup of sake. She handed it to him, but he didn't reach for it, so she just left it on the table.

'Hey' she finally decided to start a conversation. 'Why do you want to stay here so much? Are you… homeless?'

The hooded man raised his look just a little bit, but his eyes were still covered by a shadow. He smiled sadly.

'Something like that'

'Oh, I see…' she bit her lip. From what she could see, this person looked really familiar to her, but she didn't know why. 'Uhm… do you mind if I… uhm… join you?'

The man responded with his usual lack of reaction. The girl wasn't sure what it meant, so she just sat on a chair in front of him. Afterwards, she gave him her hand.

'I'm Cassy!' she smiled. The man still didn't even move a muscle. For a minute, the girl wondered if he was dead or alive. 'What's your name?'

'My name is not important' finally, a reaction.

'Huh? Why so? Are you… wanted?'

'Yeah'

'Oh, I see… Are you… a pirate?'

The man sighed.

'You can call me that. Although a pirate without a crew is barely a pirate'

This line made Cassy wonder, so she decided to ignore it.

'Hey, are you here for One Piece? I see you've made it pretty far into the Grand Line! I don't think there are any inhabited islands after this one…'

The man still didn't move. Cassy was used to it.

'I don't care about One Piece'

'Oh? Then why are you here? If you've reached that far into the Grand Line, you must have some sort of ambition, right? Some purpose, some dream!'

The man smiled sadly.

'Dreams are for the weak. Something to hold onto. Imagining how, if they meet certain conditions, they'll be great, makes them forget about their current miserable existence'

'Oh, don't be like that!' she laughed. 'Dreams are much more than that! They're something that defines your whole life! Without a dream to follow, you're not really living!'

A few seconds of silence. The girl was just about to break it when the stranger started speaking.

'Do you have a dream, Cassy?'

She smiled.

'Sure! This here is my father's pub! I'm taking care of it with him because he can't afford to hire an assistant. The rent is too expensive. But I'm gathering money! Soon, we'll have enough and I can buy the pub for him! Then… I'll go out on sea! I'll travel! I want to see the world!'

The hooded man smiled.

'And what if you never manage to get enough money to buy it? What if you and your father die here in misery, without any of you achieving their dreams?'

'Then' she smiled. 'I guess I'll die knowing that I did anything I could, and I followed my dream till I drew my last breath'

The hooded man tried to laugh.

'You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago'

Cassy also laughed.

'You see? There are many people with dreams out there! It's not futile to follow them!'

'Is it? Do you know someone who has achieved their dreams?'

She thought for a second.

'Now that you mention it…'

'Yeah, neither do I'

'But!' she jumped. 'Do you know any that have not?'

The man sighed sadly.

'Plenty…'

'Oh…'

The girl felt uncomfortable. Her break was almost up, and she needed to go serving the customers again soon. Although the pub wasn't nearly as full as it normally was, there were still a few thirsty pirates waiting.

'Hey, tell me…' The hooded man said. 'Do you intend to follow your dreams, even if it means your death?'

'What are you talking about? Of course I am!'

The hooded man laughed.

'Then, let me tell you a little story. Sit comfortably, I'll try not to go into details. It all happened on that particular sunny day…'

'WOO-HOO!' the boy with the straw hat laughed. 'Those waves are so COOL!'

'What are you talking about, you idiot? Any one of them could turn the ship over!' said a man with three swords attached to his belt while he was holding tightly onto the mast.

'Oh, chill out, Zoro!' the boy laughed and tried to tap the swordsman on the back. He stretched his arm, but accidentally pushed a little too hard, and the man was sent flying. He stopped his flight by barely being able to grab onto the cannon of the ship.

'Some day… I'm sooo gonna kill you…'

'Luffy, watch out!' If the waves tilt the ship even a little you'll be sent flying!' an orange-haired woman went to them.

'Nah, it's OK! I'll just stretch back up!'

'Nami-saaaaaaaaaaan!' an overly-energetic voice was heard. 'Lunch is ready!'

'LUNCH!' Luffy jumped from the ship's head and immediately dashed towards the kitchen.

'Can't it wait, Sanji-kun?' Nami addressed the newly-appeared tuxedo-dressed blonde man. 'I think I see an island in the distance…'

'AN ISLAND!' Luffy shot himself back to his favorite spot.

'Yup. But I have no clue why it should be there. The arrow is pointing towards it, but… there shouldn't be an island for another 3 days!'

'Maybe the waves just made the ship go faster' Zoro suggested.

'Yeah, maybe. But still, we've got a few more hours before we reach it. Let's eat!'

'THAT'S THE SPIRIT, NAMI-SWAAAAAAN!'

And the entire 7-person crew gathered together and ate, laughing and speaking.

A few hours later, they were ready to anchor on the near harbor.

'Now where should we go? We have at least a few days till the Log Posse resets' Nami asked.

Luffy scouted the terrain. There was just one big building amongst hundreds and hundreds of trees.

'Oooh! Let's go there! Let's go there!'

'Fine, fine' Zoro responded calmly, then everyone disembarked and went towards the building. They had to make their way through the trees that grew so thick, but were surprised when the forest suddenly ended, leaving an empty field… and a tall building.

It was completely white and had almost no windows on it, even though it was several stories tall.

'Hmm… where have I seen this building before… It's so familiar…' Zoro thought.

'What? Maybe it's just your imagination, Zoro!' Luffy remarked.

'No… I'm sure I've seen it somewhere…' and then he recalled. 'LUFFY, STAND BACK!'

Before anyone could do anything, the building exploded. The captain was launched backwards, but managed to stretch his arms and catch a tree, thus saving himself from further injuries.

'Zoro! What the hell was that?' asked Sanji.

'That… was an obvious trap' a man dressed in black and wearing a black mask approached.

'Who is this guy?' the little reindeer-like creature asked.

'Stand back, everyone! That guy is dangerous!' Zoro remarked.

'Huh? Dangerous? How can he be dangerous?' a bruised Luffy approached.

'Everyone get back on the ship RIGHT NOW!' the swordsman demanded and quickly armed himself.

'Hey, hey, what's this ruckus about?' Sanji asked.

'This guy right here… he's the most dangerous bounty hunter! Nobody knows who he is, so everyone calls him Shinigami, as he's killed absolutely all of his targets!'

'Oh… I'm glad that you remember me… Roronoa Zoro' Shinigami said and approached.

'I'm telling you, GO BACK NOW!' Zoro yelled and prepared to lunge in an attack. But he was stopped by a hand in front of his chest.

Sanji quickly smoke the rest of his cigarette, then threw the butt away and looked at his opponent.

'You underestimate us all. We are the Straw Hat pirates, remember?' Sanji said and jumped, then quickly attacked the bounty hunter with an aerial attack.

'Huh… Fool… Now you'll pay for your insolence!'

Suddenly, without anyone being able to see anything, Sanji dropped on the ground.

'AAAAAAAARGH!' he screamed, and looked at his leg. It was missing.

'SANJI!' screamed at once several of his crewmates.

'So you're Black Leg Sanji, with 77 million beli bounty on your head…' Shinigami approached.

'YOU BASTARD! GOMU GOMU NOOOO…' Luffy prepared, but Zoro stopped him.

'Idiot! You want to lose an arm? Let me handle this!'

Usopp also took his slingshot out.

Sanji tried to crawl away to his crew, but the blood loss said its word and he couldn't even move a muscle. Zoro lunged at Shinigami, but was surprised when he saw all of his swords were blocked by the bounty hunter's own sword.

'But how?" Nami yelled. 'I didn't even see him draw it!'

'Some say Shinigami has the power of the Devil Fruit, but nobody has confirmed this, and his power is unknown' Robin commented.

Zoro and Shinigami crossed their swords a few times, but finally the bounty hunter saw an opening and severed the swordsman's hands with one quick movement, then impaled him through the chest.

'ZORO! ZOROOOOOOOO!' Luffy tried to jump, but the reindeer Chopper had transformed into another form and was holding him tightly.

'The world's best swordsman, huh…' Shinigami commented. 'Not even close!' he said as he beheaded the Straw Hats' first mate.

'ZORO! ZORO! ZORO! ZORO!' Luffy was crying and desperately struggling to escape his nakama's grip. Nami grabbed her face and also started sobbing, unable to believe what happened.

Shinigami approached the now unconscious Sanji, lifted his head and cleanly cut his throat.

'Sanji… kun…' Nami almost fainted when she saw two of the people she admired the most die in front of her eyes.

'YOU… MONSTER!' Usopp charged his slingshot and fired a few rounds at Shinigami. He didn't even bother dodging or parrying.

'I'll make you pay! I'll make you… pa…pa…pa…' Usopp stopped talking, as he suddenly felt weak. He looked at his chest and saw the huge hole gazing there. Before he even realized what had happened, the brave warrior of the sea fell dead.

'Usopp…' Luffy didn't even have the strength to cry anymore.

'I'll be your opponent now' Robin calmly remarked and smiled as Shinigami put his gun back in the holster.

Suddenly, two arms appeared from the ground and grabbed Shinigami's legs in an attempt to twist them. The bounty hunter quickly cut them, causing Robin to yell from the pain. He used this moment to his advantage by quickly dashing towards her and beheading her.

'AAAAAAAAAARGH!' Chopper let go of Luffy, giving him to Nami's care, even though Nami was probably more shocked than Luffy was. Shinigami took out a rifle and shot the reindeer out, leaving him bleeding on the ground. With everyone else dead, the hunter started to approach Luffy. Nami realized that if she didn't do something Luffy would die, so she jumped in Shinigami's way.

'PLEASE STOP!' she cried. 'Don't kill him please! Kill me, but spare my Captain's life! I beg of you!'

Shinigami looked her in the eye.

'I've heard bad things about you, cat burglar Nami. They said you'd kill a friend in cold blood only for the money. Seeing you here, offering your life for his is… interesting. Alright then. I will not lay my hand on him… this time. It's a promise!'

Nami smiled through her tears.

'Thank you!', then was immediately cut down by Shinigami's sword.

Luffy was just standing there, observing. He couldn't believe what was happening. In a mere 5 minutes, he lost his entire nakama. He didn't have the will to fight anymore, or even to live anymore. Shinigami looked at him.

'I will spare your life now, Straw Hat. But I'll be waiting. On Raftel! Come for me if you want!'

'That's… horrible!' Cassy said through her tears.

'Do you see now why I don't believe in dreams? A whole crew destroyed, just like that! If things like that happen in this world, then… what's the point of dreams?'

Cassy wiped her tears away.

'Yes, I do, but… I cannot give up on my dreams! Nobody can! If we did, then we're better off dead! The Straw Hats… they died chasing their dreams, and they believed in them! I'm sure they're happy for that'

The hooded man smiled.

'But if they never had their dreams in the first place… if they'd given up on them… wouldn't they live?'

'Do you really believe someone without dreams is living?'

The stranger looked down.

'You're absolutely right'

Then he picked up his sake, drank it all in one shot and got up. Before he left through the door, however, he reached in his pocket and threw something in Cassy's hands.

'Thanks for hearing my story out'

The girl looked. It was a big pile of money.

'But that's-'

'Follow your dreams, Cassy! Be one of the few that actually reach them! Be what I couldn't be! Keep believing!' the stranger encouraged her, then fixed his straw hat from under the hood, smiled and left the pub.


End file.
